Industry Insider: November 2010 Archives

November 2010 Archives

Be prepared to see more
buyers than shoppers at this year's Imaging USA EXPO! Through United Funding
(PPA's Affinity Partner for equipment financing), PPA members have the
opportunity to get pre-approved for loans prior to the show. This gives members
the ability to walk onto the tradeshow floor and make purchases right there on
the spot. It's like walking around with a fistful of money.

How do you know who is
pre-approved? All PPA members who go through the pre-approval process will
receive a green "approved" sticker to put on their Imaging USA badges. If you
see a photographer with a green sticker, you know they've got money to spend!

In our world, it already feels like the New Year because we're building the first 2011 issues of the magazine and our Imaging USA 2011 plans are reaching a crescendo. Given that, we thought now would be a great time to remodel our Industry Insider newsletter and begin including more articles specific to our associations and our membership.

So in this edition, you'll find an update on Imaging USA 2011 with ideas for getting more from your investment if you're already planning to join us in San Antonio. We're also providing more details about a new consumer-oriented campaign PPA has kicked off and some of the results from our recent member survey. Next month, look for results from our latest reader surveys for Professional Photographer magazine and Action News, our Society of Sport and Event Photographers (SEP) publication.

We hope these articles will help you maximize the return on your investment in our media network. Of course, I'm very interested in your comments and welcome suggestions for future articles. As always, we give thanks to you, our business partners, and wish you happy selling in November!

In the last few weeks, PPA has tabulated results of the annual membership survey, and we'd like to share some of the results that will help our business partners better understand our PPA members and their needs. Some of the survey highlights include:

Almost half of survey respondents have in-home studios, including full-time and part-time photographers. In addition, a growing number are women. More than 50% among those who have joined in the last year are females, compared to about 30% of members who have been with PPA for 10 or more years.

Given that, it's probably not surprising that we are seeing an increasing trend to specialties in family and children photography among members.

Photographers join PPA early in their careers. The majority say they joined PPA between their first and fifth years in business. "This is an interesting statistic for our business partners," says Scott Hersh, PPA's director of sales. "Relative newcomers to the industry are definitely going to be in the market for a wide range of products."

Educational opportunities were the things most likely to initially draw a photographer to PPA, and education remains one of the most highly valued benefits (along with the Indemnification Trust, networking opportunities and the prestige of belonging to an international photographic association).

Almost three in four say they are interested in more information about equipment and products. "Again, this is good for our business partners to know," adds Hersh. "PPA members are continually looking for solid information about the industry's latest trends and products, so our sponsors have a unique opportunity to be an educational partner with PPA and help photographers learn through our websites, magazine and events."

Finally, we assessed value and were very happy to see that high majorities of PPA members report valuing their association as much or more than when they initially joined the organization. Most say they receive high value from PPA, and the majority reports considering membership with PPA a necessary cost of doing business.

PPA's mission is to create a vibrant community of professional photographers by providing education, resources and industry standards of excellence. We believe there are many ways we can partner with you to help our members and you achieve synergistic goals. Please let us know how you'd like to work together!